Nine out of ten prisoners have at least one mental health or substance misuse problem. Listening to somebody could save their life. This July, Samaritans are raising awareness that they are here to listen to anyone who’s struggling to cope, at any time of the day or night.
Every 10 seconds a Samaritans volunteer answers a call for help.
The prevalence of Samaritans in prisons is very high due to the frequency of mental health issues experienced amongst prisoners.
It was reported that calls made by prisoners to the Samaritans helpline soared by 60% from 2019-2021.
In 2023 prisons recorded 67,773 incidents of self-harm, at a rate of one every seven minutes, an increase of 17% on the previous year. Self-harm incidents rose by 11% in men’s prisons and by 38% in women’s prisons.
And very sadly, 93 prisoners died in 2023 due to ‘self-inflicted’ death, a rise of 22% on the previous year.
As part of Samaritans‘ commitment to reducing suicide, they train prisoners to provide emotional support to their peers, by becoming ‘Listeners‘.
The Listener scheme is a peer-support scheme within prisons, which aims to reduce suicide and self-harm. Listeners are prisoners who provide confidential, emotional support to their peers who are struggling to cope or feeling suicidal. They are specially selected and trained for the role by Samaritans volunteers.
The first Listener scheme was introduced at HMP Swansea in 1991. Now there are Listeners in almost every prison in the UK. In 2023, over 1,300 people in prison volunteered as trained Listeners.
Over the years, the Prison Radio Association has worked with Samaritans to raise awareness of suicide prevention and mental health support.
National Prison Radio has broadcast advertising campaigns via in-cell televisions and in-cell laptops to a potential audience of 87,000 prisoners across England and Wales. These messages encourage prisoners to speak up if they are struggling, call Samaritans or speak with a Listener in their jail. They also encourage prisoners to become Listeners and support the people around them.
We’ve broadcast interviews with prisoners who are associated with the Listener scheme, to help raise awareness of the benefits of the programme and we have dedicated shows that signpost to mental health organisations like Samaritans to encourage prisoners and prison-leavers to access support for their mental health. Examples of this is our Life After Prison podcast, and its show ‘Getting Out‘ which is packed with help and support on the most important issues that people face when they first come out of prison.
We also produced a training video for the Samaritans to raise awareness of the work they do inside prisons and enabling them to reach new audiences. Host Mickey Dehara explains to new Samaritans volunteers about the work Samaritans do in prisons and his experience of being a Listener in HMP Brixton. You can watch this video below:
This Samaritans Awareness Day 2024, we’d like to say the Prison Radio Association are here for anyone that is in or has been through the criminal justice system and is struggling with their mental health.
If you’d like to stay up to speed with what’s going on with the Prison Radio Association you can follow us on:
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The Prison Radio Association is a registered charity. Our programmes and help people to cope with life inside prison and thrive on release. If you would like to support our work, and enhance the futures of people in prison across the UK you can make a donation at prison.radio/donate.
